FINAL DAY IN REYKJAVIK AND ON TO THE AZAMARA JOURNEY

Never gets fully dark at night in Reykjavik in early August.

• 16-hours of daylight.
• Sun sets at 10:30PM or so
• Sung rises at 4:30AM or so.
• Daily highs around 55 F, with lows in the mid-40s.
• According to Google AI:

Reykjavík is widely recognized as one of the safest capitals in the world. It frequently tops global safety rankings, such as the Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection report, which has named Reykjavík the world's safest city. Violent crime is exceedingly rare, and the city boasts a high level of social trust, low property crime, and a relaxed community atmosphere compared to most major global capitals. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

• 
  However:

Traditional outright taxi scams are not common in Reykjavík, but recent changes to Iceland's taxi laws have led to a rise in complaints regarding inflated fares, unmetered overcharging, and opportunistic drivers targeting tourists—especially for airport or late-night trips. [1, 2, 3]

• Our tour guide warned us to be careful about pickpockets.

While Iceland remains one of the safest countries in the world, the ⁠U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik and local authorities have issued alerts regarding organized criminal rings explicitly targeting crowded tourist areas. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Haven't said much about the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica.

• As the total eclipse date of August 12 approaches, hotels in Reykjavik have more than doubled in price.  In addition, I signed up for an Executive room to have access to their executive club, which then comes with free breakfast and cocktails/appetizers from 5PM-7PM.  Thus, this is a costly three-night stay.
• The free buffet breakfast is nothing like what they have in the Orient, but is better than hotel clubs in the USA, Canada and Europe.
• 
  The executive club serves adequate appetizers and drinks.
• However, Johnny Walker Red Label Whiskey is an indicator of the lower quality.
• But a nice two-hour period to unwind.  They serve a good soup with assorted sandwiches, and other appetizers.  Real fusion sushi, egg rolls and the like.  Then a dessert tray at the end.  Second night.

• Third night.
• Appetizers.
  
  

Cauliflower cream soup. Not bad, but not as good as the previous night soups, tomato and potato.

Meal and view

Geo-heath site.  All these buildings are heated by geo-steam.

Noticed that bikes were not that common.  Hopp aqua-colored rental scooters are prominent.

Also, personal scooters.  They look like they're moving faster, but it turns out that the maximum legal speed for both is 15.5 miles per hour, but Hopp limits speeds to 9 MPH in certain urban areas, like here.  They cost about a dollar to unlock, plus 36 cents/minute.  So a 10-minute ride would cost $4.53.

While I was watching all this scooter stuff, noticed that we could see a Celebrity Cruise Line ship docked in one of the closer piers.  To the right in the background,

Then we saw a Viking ship departing on their total eclipse cruise.

Of course, we kept our eye on the American Embassy to help protect it from invasion.

We realize that this is one of the safest American Embassies in the world.  However, if we sit here three hours during cocktail time, we want to be responsible, so have amused ourselves by looking for intrigue.

Noticed too, that cities and places have really long names.  Even longer and more difficult to pronounce than Hawaiian locations that baffle tourists.  For example, from where we sit.

For the record, Fjarskiptastofa is the Electronic Communications Office of Iceland.  Other examples from Google AI:

Kirkjubæjarklaustur: A well-known historic village in southern Iceland whose name means "Church farm cloister" (19 letters).  There are also some short ones, like Vik.
Landmannalaugar: A famous mountainous highland area meaning "The people of the land's pools" (15 letters).
Hvannadalshnjúkur: The highest peak in the country, meaning "Angelica valley peak" (17 letters). [1, 2, 3]

Long Street and Road Names

Jófríðarstaðavegur: A long residential and arterial road located in Hafnarfjörður (19 letters).
Bræðraborgarstígur: A historic street in downtown Reykjavík meaning "Brothers' castle path" (18 letters).
Vatnsleysustrandarvegur: A rural coastal highway in the southwestern Reykjanes region (23 letters). [1, 2]

We soon taxi to the Azamara Journey, awaiting our arrival at the Skarfabakki Harbour.

The Puffin is the unofficial mascot of Iceland.

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